The moment her fingertips touched the Gate of the Starry Dome, Sharna felt an instant of weightlessness.

Then her field of vision was swallowed whole by an endless stream of light.

Beneath her feet was no longer the plaza — or more precisely, there was nothing beneath her feet at all.

She was flying — flying at tremendous speed through an indescribably vast space.

As she flew, she could see endless starlight scattered all around her.

The place she was in seemed to be a boundless giant continent, yet it was clearly not the Aster — the ocean beyond the ship's edge was nowhere in sight.

What she could see instead were vast forests, towering mountains, and flowing streams, all of it scattered with starlight like scenery from inside a dream.

In the distance, she could faintly make out magnificent palaces built in the style of the Giant race — newly constructed, by the look of them — and structures resembling Dragon Palaces nestled among the waterways.

"..."

Sharna's breath caught in her chest.

She already understood where she was.

New Elbaf. New Ryugu Palace. Old Roel had told her about both of these not long ago.

"This is... the 'Star Garden' — Starosia."

That headquarters of The Zodiac, which existed only in the legends of the sea, was right in front of her.

At the thought, Sharna instinctively tilted her head back — even though she was already flying through the sky, she looked higher still.

Above her head was not the sky, but slowly rotating nebula vortexes. Starlight flickered within them, casting iridescent light across the land below like something out of a dream.

And at the center of each slowly rotating nebula, there seemed to be a vast 'world' unto itself.

From where she was, she could see a distant island shaped like a qilin, with ribbons and flowing veils drifting around it.

"Neverland..."

She had heard of that legendary island — the one that had once shaken the entire sea.

Beyond that, there was a towering sacred mountain draped in dense greenery, with iridescent waterfalls cascading down its flanks. At its peak, what appeared to be a giant iron pillar stood between heaven and earth.

"Are those the Places of Trial Old Roel mentioned?"

Sharna wondered as she continued flying.

"Then which one is mine?"

As if in answer, the world showed her — a nebula gradually drew near, and within it she could make out a magnificent pyramid, and three enormous figures perched at its peak.

On the left stood a crimson giant dragon with two heads and wings.

On the right stood an azure giant god, its expression carved with ferocity and destruction.

Between them, as if presiding over both, was a great bird that seemed half bird and half dragon, entirely golden.

The three figures drew closer and closer, and Sharna recalled the words she had heard when she touched the Gate of the Starry Dome.

"Egyptian Gods... Pyramid?"

The moment she murmured the words, she was wrapped once more by the starlight of the nebula vortex.

A moment later, her surroundings changed again.

She seemed to have come down from the sky and landed somewhere soft — a sofa, by the feel of it.

But Sharna had no attention to spare for her surroundings.

Because her body had gone rigid.

"My leg!"

She felt the change before she understood it.

Her right leg — the one that had been ruined — was sending a sensation she had long since forgotten. Solid. Powerful. Real.

"How..."

She looked down in disbelief at two intact legs.

She could feel the sensation of her toes pressing into sand. Every nerve told her it was not an illusion.

She raised a hand and touched her cheek. The hideous scar that had crossed her face was gone.

"Hey — what's gotten into you, standing up and spacing out like that? Sharna?"

A voice reached her.

She turned toward it and found herself inside a tavern.

The décor was unusual — somewhat reminiscent of the Alabastan style she had heard of, but not quite the same.

The one speaking to her was a male patron seated nearby.

On his left hand was a strange device — something like a hand blade or gauntlet, but without any blade; just a flat rectangular structure strapped to his arm.

"He is Red Jack — a duelist who came here with me. And that thing on his hand is... a Duel Disk?"

What was strange was that the moment she laid eyes on him, memories surfaced in her mind on their own.

In those memories, her name was still Sharna, and she was a duelist who had come from the outer seas to this legendary 'Pyramid of Illusion Gods' to compete in the duel tournament.

This man called Red Jack had a similar background.

"These aren't my real memories. They're something The Zodiac wants me to know."

Sharna was certain of that.

"And Old Roel said I'm the first person to take a trial, which means this man 'Red Jack' can't be another challenger... so what is he? A phantom that doesn't really exist?"

She studied Red Jack, who looked completely ordinary from every angle and was currently watching her with genuine concern, and turned the question over in her mind.

But just then —

"Everyone, quiet! This is the critical moment!"

"Quiet your ass! How are we supposed to stay quiet when a duel this blood-boiling reaches a part like this?!"

The sudden uproar in the tavern cut through her thoughts.

She shook her head briefly at Red Jack to signal she was fine, then raised her eyes to look at what everyone in the tavern was watching.

It was a screen of light — like footage from a broadcast Transponder Snail, except she couldn't see any Transponder Snail, only dazzling radiance pouring from it.

Within the screen was a massive platform.

On the platform, two men stood facing each other.

Both had Duel Disks strapped to their hands.

The red-haired man on the left looked tense — his whole body was trembling slightly.

The man on the right, by contrast, was composed. He wore a priestly robe that resembled a long coat, and though there was clearly no wind at the scene, the coat seemed to defy gravity, billowing upward of its own accord.

He let out a quiet, contemptuous sound. "A mortal who thought gathering thirty stars gave him the right to recklessly challenge a God... have you finally grasped the gap between us?"

Arrogant, and not bothering to hide it — Sharna filed that away.

She also noticed that both men had their Duel Disks open, cards placed on them, numbers displayed.

The difference was stark: the red-haired man had only a single card remaining, labeled 'Axe Raider', and the number on his Duel Disk read 300.

The man in the priestly coat, on the other hand, still held a full hand of cards, and his number was an untouched 4000.

And what Sharna found hardest to believe was that standing in front of the red-haired man — actually standing there, solid and present — was a warrior gripping a giant axe, the image identical to the one engraved on his card. Floating around the warrior were the words: ATK: 1700 / DEF: 1150.

"Priest Seto!"

The red-haired man called out, his voice strained: "I am not here to challenge a God. I only want to meet the Pharaoh — and to witness the majesty of the Egyptian Gods with my own eyes."

"Especially the greatest of the Egyptian Gods, the 'Winged Dragon of Ra', Lord of the Sun. My family has worshipped the Sun for generations. To look upon its true form with my own eyes would be my supreme honor."

"For that, I will defeat you today!"

He raised his Duel Disk. "My cards may all be spent, but I still have this trump card — my soul, my brave and loyal strongest warrior!"

"Oh?"

On the other side, the priest called Seto let out a sharp sound. "For a mortal, your spirit is respectable — but what a waste."

"The moment you chose to stand before me directly, you forfeited the right to ever meet Pharaoh Atem."

As he spoke, he had already slapped a card onto the Duel Disk.

"I Normal Summon 'Lord of D.'!"

At his words, a warrior clad in dragon-scale armor materialized on the field.

[ATK: 1200 / DEF: 1100]

"A monster with 1200 ATK!?"

The red-haired man tensed for a moment — then steadied himself. "It doesn't matter. My trump card has 1700 ATK..."

"Hmph."

But right then, Priest Seto sneered.

"This is only the beginning."

"What!?"

Before the red-haired man could process that, the priest had already drawn another card from his hand. "I activate the Spell Card 'The Flute of Summoning Dragon'. While Lord of D. is on the field, I can Special Summon up to two Dragon-Type monsters directly from my hand."

He spread his arms wide, the Millennium Rod gripped tight in his fist.

"Bear witness — the form of the mightiest dragon!"

"Blue-Eyes White Dragon!"

The card in his hand erupted with blinding white light.

From it, a colossal dragon with ice-blue eyes tore free and landed on the field.

[ATK: 3000 / DEF: 2500]

"ATK... 3000!?"

"It's Blue-Eyes White Dragon — Priest Seto's divine beast!"

"He summoned it directly, without Tributes!"

The tavern erupted.

Sharna: "..."

She didn't follow the mechanics, but the crowd's reaction made the weight of it perfectly clear.

Then came Priest Seto's low roar — his voice cracking with something close to ecstasy.

"Tough! Invincible! The Strongest!"

"Pulverize! Honorable Defeat! Great Acclaim!"

"Go, Blue-Eyes White Dragon — White Lightning!"

He thrust his hand forward.

A bolt of energy erupted and slammed into the red-haired man.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

Amid the theatrical screaming, Sharna watched the number on the red-haired man's Duel Disk drop from its final 300 all the way to 0.

He crumpled to his knees, face to the ground, in total defeat.

"He lost?"

"As expected of Priest Seto!"

"What a duel though — what a fight!"

"Right? My hands are itching just watching — hey, anyone here want to duel me? Winner drinks free today, on the house!"

"Oh oh oh! Let's go then, I'm in!"

"I want to collect thirty stars and challenge Priest Seto too!"

"Forget Priest Seto — I think he might be the strongest of all six Priests."

Cheers and groans and laughter swept through the tavern all at once.

Sharna: "..."

She didn't quite understand any of it, but she had the distinct feeling something was off about this place.

"So this is... a duel?"

Using the cover of the commotion, she sorted through the extra memories that had been placed in her mind.

Slowly, the rules took shape.

This was 'Duel City' Amaseto.

Within this pyramid city, you found other duelists and challenged them.

The winner claimed one 'Duel Star' from the loser.

Collect thirty Duel Stars, and you earned the right to challenge one of the six Priests who guarded the Pharaoh.

Defeat a Priest, and you could stand before the 'Pharaoh' himself — and seek an audience with the great Egyptian Gods.

"The Egyptian Gods: 'Slifer the Sky Dragon', who commands the power of the underworld; 'Obelisk the Tormentor', who commands the earth and the power of regeneration; and the head of the Egyptian Gods, who stands above all and commands the sun and the authority of creation — 'The Winged Dragon of Ra'."

When those three names surfaced in her mind, she couldn't help but think back to the three colossal figures she had seen before arriving here.

"Winged Dragon of Ra... I've heard that name before. One issue of the World Economy News Paper mentioned that the ability of the Zodiac 'Rooster' was to command the sun — that he could transform into a special dragon?"

As the leader of her group, she had always paid close attention to whatever news she could get her hands on.

"So this must be the Place of Trial representing the 'Rooster' — the source of his power."

"And what I have to do is see it through to the end. That's how I pass the trial."

"No — based on what Old Roel hinted... completing a certain stage should let me gain something even before the end. Which means gathering thirty stars is probably enough to clear the first part."

Sharna drew a slow breath, and air carrying the smell of sand and dust filled her lungs.

She had a basic grasp of this Place of Trial's structure now.

But a grasp wasn't enough.

"The first real goal should be understanding the basic rules of this world — starting with where those cards even come from."

Even from that brief glance, she had already concluded that the cards were the most important objects here.

"The identity The Zodiac arranged for me is there to make navigating all of this easier."

She turned to look at Red Jack beside her. "Red Jack — I mean, now that we've finally made it here, it's not going to be easy to get the most out of this place, is it?"

"Indeed."

Red Jack nodded readily. "A duel that good really does make your blood boil... you can't just walk in unprepared."

He leaned in with a conspiratorial wink. "As it happens, I've already heard that if you want to become the best duelist in this whole city, there's one thing you absolutely have to do."

"...Oh?" Sharna's eyes sharpened. Exactly what she had expected.

"Get a haircut."

"...A haircut?"

She genuinely wasn't sure she'd heard correctly.

"That's right. Word is, only duelists with a distinctive enough hairstyle earn the favor of the Gods — and the more outstanding they become." Red Jack delivered this with complete seriousness. "So I'm planning to dye my hair iridescent. Sharna... do you want to come?"

Sharna: "..."

She still didn't really understand.

But she was beginning to wonder — were the people in this place mentally ill?

(End of Chapter)

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